If you follow football, in particular the Minnesota Vikings, you have undoubtedly seen no less than 8 million pieces on their quarterback situation.  I cannot tell you how bored I have become by these.  This is not just because they all say different versions of the same never going to happen scenario but because they are missing what seems to be one of the most obvious outcomes.  

Let me make one thing perfectly clear.  Case Keenum will not be the starting quarterback of the Minnesota Vikings next year.  Case Keenum will not be the backup quarterback of the Minnesota Vikings next year.  Case Keenum will not have one goddamn thing to do with this team next season.  I continue to see these ridiculous “Sign Case to a Long Term Deal” articles followed by the even more absurd “Franchise Case” articles to the downright laughable “Franchise Case and Trade Him” articles.  First off, this organization already knows they cannot win a Super Bowl with Case Keenum as their starter and any fans who think they can are quite possibly the dumbest sect of an already moronic, delusional fan base (one of which I am unapologetically a part of but we are idiots, you have to be to continue to subject yourself to this year after year).  If the playoffs were not enough evidence to this point then I would turn your attention to the fact that their head coach seemed to be actively undercutting him at every turn throughout the regular season.  Mike Zimmer hated, HATED, starting this guy all season and it was painfully obvious.  The man refused to name him as the starter regardless of the wins that were continuously piling up and left every door open for a return of his, and my, favorite human being on the planet returning to lead the team at the slightest sign of Case faltering.  

That leads me to my next point.  Every level of this organization wants Teddy Bridgewater to be the quarterback of this team.  The front office wants Teddy because they traded up to draft him in the first round and that reflects poorly on them if it doesn’t work out.  The coaching staff wants Teddy because Zimmer might actually love him more than I do.  The players want Teddy because they believe in him as a man and a football player.  He is the first choice and the only thing that stops this from happening is if his knee is actually truly fucked.  The team knows the answers to this question better than anyone and their diagnosis of the situation will dictate what happens going forward.

If they do believe that his knee is healthy, I see one of two things happening:

Scenario 1:

The team has full confidence in the reconstructed knee and lets both Case and Bradford walk while signing Teddy to a reasonable deal, say 3 years.  They bring in a veteran backup because they need another QB on the roster and even though I love Teddy, his knee did spontaneously combust a couple years ago so you have to have someone competent behind him.

Scenario 2:

This is my personal preference and I have not seen this discussed anywhere, so bear with me.  The team is still confident that Teddy can perform with no signs of the previously discussed injury hampering him and decide to sign him to the type of realistic deal I spoke of earlier. BUT, instead of going with some who gives a fuck like Josh McCown, they secure a guy who they already know they can win with.  That’s right, I am honestly suggesting that they use the franchise tag on Sam Bradford.  Now, I know he has had his own long and storied injury history but he was healthy enough to be the number two QB in the playoffs, ahead of Teddy mind you, so he will be healthy enough to play next year.  That can obviously change depending on the direction the wind is blowing but its a fact at this moment.  We already know the front office thinks highly of Sam as they sent a shit load of draft capital to get him when Teddy originally went down.  They have the cap space this year to eat the 25 million or whatever the franchise tag would be, and because it is only a one year thing, it will not impact their ability to resign the 5 young impending free agents due for a payday after next season.  This plan would give you a backup you can win with if the unforeseen happens…again.  It would also open up another potential option.  If Teddy comes back and is as healthy as he was before and looking like the player we all thought he was becoming before he got hurt, you would have the ability to recoup some of the original assets you were forced to shell out to get Bradford in the first place by flipping him to the inevitable contender who has their guy go down early in the season.  

Of course, this could all be rendered moot if they end up signing Kirk Cousins and make me look like an asshole but for now I believe this to be their best option.  It gives them flexibility to make sure Teddy is good to go, as well as a quarterback they were prepared to roll with the past two seasons if he isn’t.  

I mean none of this really matters because they are, and will always be, the Vikings, but that’s what it’s all about.  Irrational hope and optimism channelled into sports because even though it’s foolish it still seems more sane than having those kinds of thoughts about the real world.

 

 

 

 

 

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